I fully agree that the cause for a struggle is still there, but it is not a cause for a Armed struggle. Those who propose armed struggle are the very same those failed to support the tamils undergoing hardships during the reacent past. They offer enough bullets but not even a biscuit! They offer bombs but not a bottle of water! Easiest way to get equal rights in SL is to stop ethenic identification. Lets be Sri Lankans and not SL Tamils. Rights will come automatically. I think we are having a problem. all other ethenic group in Canada identify them selves as Canadians, but we say "tamils". In US blacks from africa call them "Americans", but our people wants to be "Tamils". In UK all others are Britishes, except for "Tamils". Even in India it's the same story. We should give-up this thinking. I have been living in Colombo for over 40 years peacefully except for the problems in 1983. But all setled down very well. Those who had nothing in SL went abroad and were dazzled by what they got in those countries. Now they dont want to come back. I came from SL in 2009 due repeated requests by my close family members and will be going back along with them. That's how we should get our rights. not by making noises. Infact, I'm a member of a new upcoming organization "tamils against violance!". How do you like it?

Mr. Mawatha Silva1, Dont spread the germ of war while enjoying a good life. Are you ready to sacrifice your life or your child for the war (for we tamils)? I know how we get looted by LTTE agents in broad daylight in Bambalapitiya. I'm not supporting what SL Army did. If it is real, it is bad. But frankly, if they were LTTE, I dont have a much sympathy. Can you remeber in 10th June 1990, LTTE killed over 400 unarmed policemen taken as prisnors by LTTE? Can you remember what happened to our Periya Appa (Amirthalingam)? How many of our own people were killed by them? So dont talk for LTTE. If you try to dig deeper, more skelitons will come out. Let's forgive and forget the past to build our own motherland. One nation, one country! just look back and see what happened to our Tamilnadu? What happened to LTTE supporters? Wast majority rejects LTTE in India and SL. The war is bitter for those who experence it. For media, it's a hot "News Item". They trade blood and death!!! For some, (Living abroad), it's their living. They try to prolong the cure to extend their stays in Europe. Dont try to fool us and dont try to trade our lives for "News items" and for others living. Lets live peacefully in Sri Lanka.

Diaspora is always diaspora who do not change drastically or else do not want to change. Still the Irish diaspora in the east coast of US and Australia have their own hallucinations. Then how can we Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora forget the "Eelam"?

These are crucial times and we should honestly look back at what we did. What happened to US$ 300 million per year enterprise? What happened to our money? What the charities which have been raising money here did in Sri Lanka for our people? What are the outcomes of all protests and huge demonstartions for which we paid genunely? In the end we gained nothing.the LTTE was destroyed, the government captured most of the weapons, and it is after LTTE's foreign assets.

The LTTE enterprise was bound to fail. We must frankly look back. The intransigence of its leadership drove it to that sad end. had they allowed Ranil to win in 2005, the story would have been different.We would not have lost the lives of our innocent people.

The Tamil intellectuals and leaders who are runing the diaspora business must stop spreading hatred. This will take us nowhere. Yes, it is bitter. Our people were killed, maimed; our properties were destroyed, our culture was disrupted. But can we again start another struggle? Even if we can we should not do that.

In the future when we have our second, third generations getting matured here in the West they will not want to get back to Sri Lanka. Are we honestly ready leave all these Western comforts to live in the North/East or in Colombo? For me the answer is no.

Mr. Raghavan's partner Ms. Rajasingham wrote extensivley last year on diaspora politics. Those were eye opening articles. But we all are being treated as traitors by stakeholders of Eelam enterprise.

We are still fancying that the West and USA would some day help us to create Eelam. So, the new process of Government in Exile has come out. This will be another useless and time wasting exercise. Though the organisers boasted that in France, Norway, Canada 99% voted in favour of Eelam only a fraction of population have come and vote. Those results are not representative. We shall see this in UK on 30 January.

As I commented in the other article we must now start genuinely helping our people. There are many ways and means of doing this. We need not waste our hard earn money on useless causes. We should not forget that in the process of funding the LTTE many Tamil familes went bankrupt, they are debt ridden, have family problems etc. So, let our people live peacefully both in Sri Lanka and overseas. Do not believe the West.

It looks as if everyone is talking to ignite an issue but not to solve. Being a Tamil from Colombo, I have a much deferent view. I dont agree that we wanted a seperate land through a war. What we wnated is only the lost harmony within Sri Lanka. Many tamils prefers to identified as Sri Lankans rather than refered as a "Tamil". We encountered hardships is true, but this "Picking" business must end. Westeren media should find more positive topics than trying to destabilize the country and nation. No one talks how much we were taxed by LTTE and hos our children were abducted by them. Those who try to create problems are economic asylum seekers. I dont have an issue like that and that's why I stood back in Sri Lanka, even after loosing many wealth in 1983. This issue of "Terrorisum" is created by Western's and economic asylum seekers to prolong their comfortable stay in European countries. I invite all of them to come and live in Sri Lanka. Lets find a better country here than barking with westerners.We were forced to be short sighted by politicians. Even today, all tamil parties support two main candidates without fielding a seperate one for tamils. Try to understand why! We need to live in a one country as Sri Lankans. For tamils sake, in the name of our children abducted by LTTE, please dont create problems. Let's live as a one nations. Wetern media - Please look how civilians are getting killed in Afgenistan. Whay Pakistan is suffering? Who de-stabilized Iraq? Who wanted it? UK PM misled the parliment and sent forces to Iraq. How many Iraqi's were killed directly or indirectly by UK forces? How about US forces? they used other countries for their benifits. Should not happen the same in Sri Lanka. I'm looking forward to go back 'cause it is the time to heal the wound!

Dear Doc Forsythe( comment 3), Sri Lankan President speaks Tamil fluently, far better than many of TNA(LTTE catspaw) palimentarians.
At least half of Sinhalese and muslims have a basic knowledge of Tamil. You have been living outside Sri Lanka for too long to realise this.

Reconciliation. What reconciliation? In none of the manifestos of the presidential candidates Mahinda or Sarath do you find any mention of what they wish to do with regard to the Tamil question. They are both probably reflecting the current Sinjala thinking, which is “We have von the war over the Tamils. The problem is solved and has gone away…at least for the time being. So, what is there to address or reconcile?” It appears there is muted support for this view even outside of Sri Lanka, which can be explained by the strategic importance assigned to Sri Lanka.

It is foolish for the Tamils to take part in this election where they have no real stake. As they say, whether “Rama rules or Ravana rules” it matters little to the Tamils. But for the US/EU/Indian block the green card holder Sarath Fonseka is a better choice than the openly pro Chinese/Russian/Iranian Mahinda Rajapakse (who will be tormented with war crimes allegations if he wins).

Surely, Tamils have better things to do than address this silly election of electing the best of Sinhala chauvinists. If they must vote why not try Dr Wickramabahu Karunaratne whose manifesto contains everything the Tamils ever wanted?

What can I say? Tamils need their own land to live peacefully. They do have a genuine reason to fight for a free nation. Because they are living in the tiny Island for more 3500 years and why can't they live for another 3500 years? All I can say is that they can destroy them and perish under the land. But they can't perish their land and thought of freedom.

H. L. Mencken:
I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years. I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when the former is dangerous and the latter safe.